Sri Lanka Day 4
August 8th, 2006
since my last post, i have fled the busy Sri Lankan capital of Colombo, and headed for the hills (literally) of Kandy! it’s a more rural area, and since it’s in the hills the temperature here is slightly cooler. the hotel here, Earl’s Regency, is gorgeous - even more so than the previous. it’s a totally romantic place.
i just got here yesterday evening, and today i was supposed to join the parentals and their friends on this trip to some temple whose deity is so superior you gotta climb up some 1000+ stone steps to meet the dude. unfortunately, Deity and i did not get to meet because the parentals and i had a bit of a tiff in the morning, which resulted in me refusing to go with them and them storming out on me. brilliant lah. what family holiday is complete without an argument?
mildly irritated, i took to the streets of Kandy town by myself. when i got there, there were all these policemen stationed around, closing off roads and actually frisking people before they could enter the town. for a while i wondered if i was supposed to find this normal, you know, due to the whole civil unrest situation in Sri Lanka - but then i learnt that all this security is in preparation for a buddhist festival that’s going on today, and at 7pm there will be a parade in the streets of Kandy.
WONDERFUL! i love this sort of stuff. but when 7pm rolled around i found that i didnt have enough space in my cf card for more pics. and since this is a weeklong festival with the parade happening every day, i decided that i’d come back tomorrow with an empty cf card. no problemo, i’m here in Kandy for 3 more days.
but - bombshell! when i get back to the hotel, dad tells me that i have NOT been pulled off the waiting list for this thursday’s flight back to KL. meaning i have to fly back .. tomorrow. yeah. aaaaaaaaargh. but i’ve barely SEEN Sri Lanka!!! i am very distraught now.
anyways. some cool encounters today while wandering Kandytown for a couple of hours -
1. there were a bunch of men sitting by the side of the street in anticipation of the parade. they looked very happy so i asked if i could take a picture of them, and they were more than happy to comply! i had only made it as far as down the street after that, when one of the guys chased me down and anxiously asked if i could mail him the picture. it was hard to understand him, and when i finally got what he was trying to say, i said - sure! give me your email address! he then nodded yes yes and pressed a typewritten snailmail address into my hand. i laughed and promised i would mail him the picture.
2. i was taking more pics of sidewalk-sitting people when this cute chubby kid peered over my shoulder to see what i was doing. he was very cute and was extremely fascinated with my camera. so i taught him how to use it. his mother didnt look pleased. whatevar, woman! havent you heard; thou shalt convert more people into the love of phototaking whenever you can??
3. i was on a quest to find this Sri Lankan food called Kottu Roti, and a nice man kindly showed me a restaurant that has it. omg lemme just say that Kottu Roti is by far the best Sri Lankan food ever - even the hopper cannot top it. it’s basically a dish of chopped up roti canai that’s about as thick as murtabak, that is stir fried with chicken, curry, eggs, onions, vegetables, and then served. it’s soooooo good, but Kottu Roti is not the point of this encounter. the point is that in this Kottu Roti place, the owner of the shop asked me where i was from. in no mood to bluff this time around (this is a habit, i bluff about my country of origin all the time whenever presented with the opportunity to, heehee) i said Malaysia. his face instantly glowed and he was like are you chinese??? i said yes, and then he said -
‘ni hui jiang hua yu ma??’ (can you speak mandarin?)
i was so damn taken aback, man. hahahaha. i mean, usually all they say is a lame nihao. so i laughed and said yes i could, and thus a 5 minute conversation in Mandarin ensued. turns out this dude worked in KL and Malacca and Muar for a year and that’s how he picked up mandarin. and to all my lousy friends laughing and going - su ann speaking mandarin???, YES LA I DID LA and it was an actual full-blown conversation ok! haha dont know why but it’s just so much easier to speak a language when you’re conversing with someone who has no idea that you cannot really speak it.
4. this ice cream vendor cycled past me on the streets, did a double take, turned around and parked his bicycle next to me. this is what he said to me -
“madam, you are the most beautiful girl i ever see. your skin is so white, so white! here, i give you ice cream for no charge! no charge!”
he then gave me an ice cream and cycled away. i was so fucking bewildered, but very pleased nonetheless that i got free ice cream. hehehe. and it was very nice ice cream too! a milk flavour, with consistency of sherbert. very yummy. enclosed is a pic of fairskinned me and my free ice cream.
5. i was camwhoring with a banana, when this man came up to me and asked, very puzzled, if i had never seen a banana before. i blinked at him, and then i started laughing and laughing and laughing until i dropped my banana on the pavement and could no longer camwhore with it. when i was done laughing, the man had gone away and people were looking at me like i was weird.
6. the three-wheeler driver who sent me back to the hotel from Kandytown was very interested in getting to know me better. i was like, man, this isnt going to work, you’re too far away .. but he pushed a pen and paper in my hands and sheepishly asked for my address anyway. i thought i could worm out of this by saying oh no no i dont know my hotel address, but he said oh no no i want your malaysia address! so in a flicker of inspiration, i wrote down my high school’s address. hahahaha. i told him, “okay, this is my address, Sri is my first name and Garden is my last name. so you write many many letters and address it to Sri Garden, ok? i will wait for your letters! you MUST send me letters!”
Entry Filed under: Travel
28 Comments Add your own
1. mitchlai | August 8th, 2006 at 12:13 am
Glad to see you’re still in one piece, what with the shelling and bombing and the warring between factions. But I suppose the fightings in another region. Phew :)
2. amanda | August 8th, 2006 at 12:13 am
hahaha. aww, poor three-wheelr driver. omg. if he does send those letters, maybe mr khaw himself will open it and he’ll be like wtf? these are like love letters. hahahha.
3. voonkiat | August 8th, 2006 at 12:37 am
pinkpau, why are u so popular? :p
4. Adrian C | August 8th, 2006 at 12:40 am
Ms. Sri Garden?! HAHAHAHAHAH. what new and innovative ways u have of staving off your admirers! so farney lah. I think the incident with the ice cream man is soooo cute (and quaint). haha.
5. Samantha | August 8th, 2006 at 12:42 am
sri garden school -laughs- cute la you =p wa, how come ppl dont say such thing to me??? kidding =p =p
6. Hishy | August 8th, 2006 at 12:47 am
*stares at resort/beach pics*…
Yea, I wanna go on vacation too.
And I want free ice-cream too…
and gah so mean.. that poor guy is gonna write to his beloved ‘Sri Garden’ and… like no reply. Damn heartbroken nanti right?
Sigh. Evil ’so white’-skinned people…
But eh. Looks like lots of fun.. but usually I’m too shy to walk up to the locals -_- At least you’re more gung ho than me..
7. lips | August 8th, 2006 at 12:51 am
HAHAHAHA. omg what if he does write to Miss Sri Garden??! hahaha!
8. bernard | August 8th, 2006 at 2:14 am
“madam, you are the most beautiful girl i ever see. your skin is so white, so white like taufoofa! here, i teach you dota and bring you around subang for no charge! no charge!”
er.. wait, let me see first.. hmmm… can bake me some peanut butter chocolate brownies ar? … :D
9. Jon | August 8th, 2006 at 6:43 am
Omg… so many pervs in sri lanka lol!!! Love the icecream man encounter, it’s by far the funniest of them all!
10. sweat | August 8th, 2006 at 10:07 am
wei not scary meh walk on the streets alone? and why so many friendly people one!
i saw the news and saw alot of wild sri lankans fighting. then saw u as a cameo with your free ice-cream too. wtf.
11. Sandra | August 8th, 2006 at 11:16 am
Sista.. i guess we have the same interest… TRAVELLING, PHOTOGRAPHYING, CHOCOLATING hahahaha.. anyway nice trip in Sri Lanka hur…. I myself also travelling lately… haha.. hey add me in my blog.. http://www.gloomysand.blogspot.com.. thanks.
12. director | August 8th, 2006 at 2:32 pm
wah su ann….u dare to walk down the street alone?……impresive…ur so brave u know…but don’t u think is quite risky to do that?next time bring me along la,i become ur bodyguard for free…haha,free ice cream…that guy is so funny….that’s the good thing u got a fair skin….lot’s of free food eh? . Tak sangka man,ur so friendly even to strangers……if u join miss malaysia,i totally support u…..u have all the requirement…
13. Kevin | August 8th, 2006 at 2:37 pm
hahah sucker man, you should have wrote down an address of someone you didn’t like. So that guy or girl will be receiving weird letters from Sri Lanka every month hahaaha and ohhh so Ah Pau isn’t just popular in Mas huh? Spreading yourself to Sri Lanka too haha =P
14. meanoldman | August 8th, 2006 at 3:32 pm
that guy is so sincere la…give him a chance. if u don’t focus on the negative Kandytown isn’t too far away. just a plane and van ride away. it can work if u want it to.
15. AbbyC. | August 8th, 2006 at 3:40 pm
woah ur totally brave to walk on a streets you barely know.. alone! but anyhow.. thats how we can discover things haha… btw the ice cream thing is just soo cute!!
lol.. srigarden haha.. your’re mean lol. “MUST send me letters” haha LMAO
16. MichelleSY | August 8th, 2006 at 5:17 pm
LOL!!!
They all got PInk Pau-ed - the ice-cream man, the three-wheeler driver, the bemused bystanderwho witnessed your banana cam-whoring antics :P
I am LMAO right now thinking of that three-wheeler guy laboriously addressing letter after letter to Sri Garden *wipes away tears of mirth*
Have a good time (all that’s left of it anyway) and take care!
Cheers,
MichelleSY
17. vvens | August 8th, 2006 at 5:17 pm
the people there sounded so interested in you! hahahahahaha.
the ice-cream man is so cuuuute!! as well as the man asking about the banana thingy. hahahaha.
but how come you’re so naughty to give him the sri garden’s address. ;( i wonder will he really write a letter to you. ;p
*i can’t even remember the SSG’s address* ;(
18. eric | August 8th, 2006 at 7:09 pm
you speak mandarin? woahh.. not saying that it’s a full blown surprise, just that.. i wanna hear! hahaha
are the living conditions there bad? a wonder to see how they can actually live in harmony in spite of these conditions, while we here in malaysia don’t have it much better than them..
you don’t see ice cream men giving free ice cream here. :P
19. pinkpau | August 8th, 2006 at 11:18 pm
mitchlai : yup all the fighting is in the north, whereas we’re in the central regions and the west coast. howeverrrrr, there was a bomb blast just down the road from my hotel earlier this evening. not civilian-targetted tho.
amanda : HEHE that will be funny!
voonkiat : says who!
adrian c : hahaha my only regret is that i cannot read the letters he sends, if he does send any!
samantha : i’m sure they do ok :P hey u know what, today the tuktuk driver who fetched me around was called samantha .. haha he’s a GUY!
hishy : but you dont even like ice cream!!!
lips : hehe then it will give my school’s secretary some fun in her boring life
bernard : oi taufoofa ur head ok! anyway i’m darker now thanks to sri lankan sun. weiii how did u do?? email me if i dont catch u on msn!
jon : haha not pervs, they’re just very friendly!
sweat : ya damn friendly wan. miss u babe! cute scanner pic hahaha
san : you’re going to VIETNAM! i am soooooooo super jealous!!!! eat a lotta pho and spring rolls for me ok! take lotsa pics and show me!
director : yea thats what everyone says, it’s so dangerous etc haha but seriously walking in sri lanka doesnt feel scary at all. the ppl here are very helpful and friendly. hehe yes having fair skin is a benefit when it gets u free ice cream! and miss malaysia ur head la :P i’ll be laughed out of the audition room the moment i step in ok!
kevin : haha i dont remember many addresses ok. the only ones i could remember were mine and my best friends’ and ex boyfriends’ .. and i dont hate my ex bfs that much :P so the ex school was the best option .. hehehe!!! hey shouldnt u be in NY already. i’m damn jealous k. hey can buy me back reese peanut butter cups. pls pls pls plsssssssssss i will marry u if u do. and i promise i will REALLY dhl myself over if u do .. hehe
meanoldman : sincerity isnt everything! neither is willpower
abby c : haha i find that during travels, the times i spend alone are the best. very irritating to travel with my parents actually - cos they’re so unadventurous and damn scared to eat food that’s not chinese food. -_-
michelle sy : about one more day left! cant pinkpau many ppl :P
vvens : ssg’s add will always be stuck in my head, haha. i really hope he writes many letters :P it’ll be SO funny man!
eric : mebbe one day we’ll have a debate in mandarin, hehe. as for living conditions, yes it’s actually pretty shabby here. malaysia is DEFINITELY much more well off!! though umm we’re less friendly :P
20. -archangel- | August 9th, 2006 at 1:47 am
you shall be the famous banana girl !
okay? :D
21. pinkpau | August 9th, 2006 at 2:07 am
archangel : wah! someone layan me wor!
22. dawn_1o9 | August 9th, 2006 at 11:27 am
the banana incident was so funny! He probably thought u came from a country where bananas don’t grow! like Iceland or something :P and free ice-cream for being a beautiful girl with radiant skin? damn! doesn’t that boost your ego! ^_^
23. Kyels | August 9th, 2006 at 5:31 pm
It’s great to see that you are having loads of fun! I want a getaway too!
Camwhore with a banana? Haha. o.O
XD
24. Sv | August 9th, 2006 at 9:49 pm
wow. “madam, you are the most beautiful girl i ever see. your skin is so white, so white! here, i give you ice cream for no charge! no charge!”
now dont u wish he was working in a shoe shop when u met him? XD
25. entwined | August 9th, 2006 at 11:10 pm
rotfl! number 6 cracked me up like nothing ever did before :P hehehheheheh your travelogues are so interesting and funny!
26. andrew | August 12th, 2006 at 12:07 am
ROFLMAO!#$%$#^%$&!!!@!!
damn funny la you. i cannotttt stop laughing even though it’s 12am and my mom’s gonna flip for making so much noise to wake the neighbours up.
all your fault!! $#@^$^%$&$^@#@
:)
and how the heck do you remember your high school address?~@?@# i grumble everytime i fill up a form with that because i then have to find the stupid thing and then copy. #$%^#$&%&.
27. quaintly.net » Sri &hellip | June 18th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
[...] read about Sri Lanka Day 4 here. [...]
28. scott | July 5th, 2008 at 5:17 am
That dirty old ice cream vendor just wanted to see you lick his cone.
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